Result :: Czech 1 - 0 Switzerland (Sverkos)
BASEL (Reuters) - Euro 2008 gets underway on Saturday with co-hosts Switzerland pitting their promising young team against an experienced Czech Republic side (5 p.m. British time) keen to prove their best days are not behind them.
Koebi Kuhn's Swiss squad are one of the youngest at these finals but include several players who have already experienced two major tournaments.
"Our players have developed and ripened since the 2006 World Cup," captain Alex Frei told reporters at the team's base camp.
"I believe in the quality of the team and I know it is hungry for success. We want to write history and now have the chance to do so in our own country."
The former Czechoslovakia won Euro 1976 and recent successes for the side include an appearance in the 1996 final and a run to the 2004 semi-finals.
But the international retirements of Karel Poborsky and Pavel Nedved along with the loss through injury of captain Tomas Rosicky have raised doubts over the pedigree of this squad.
"I don't know why people would say we are not as good as we were before," midfielder David Jarolim told reporters at the team's training ground in Seefeld, Austria.
"We have qualified for the last three tournaments in a row. That shows how strong we are and we will prove it again at Euro 2008
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